The East Asia and Pacific preparatory meeting for the World Congress III Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, in Bangkok. The meeting needs specific laws to monitor and counter child pornography being promoted over the Internet.The congress, organised by Ecpat International, an international non-profit organisation network, will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from Nov 25-28.

Meeting chair Amihan Abueva said clear definitions of child pornography, the prohibiting of mere possession of child pornography, and protecting children from being groomed for commercial sexual exploitation over the Internet were all areas where laws were still weak. Some examples could be taken from New Zealand, which had some of the world's most comprehensive laws against child pornography.

Children were still being lured or forced into the sex industry in many countries, including Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. She called on the countries of the Mekong sub-region _ Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Vietnam and Thailand _ to agree on a concrete code of conduct against child sex tourism and exploitation of children through the Internet.

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